Barcelona welcome bitter rivals Real Madrid to Catalonia for the fourth Clasico of the season.
Xavi’s men have won two of their encounters with Los Blacos this term – the Supercopa de Espana final and their recent Copa del Rey semi-final first leg – with Carlo Ancelotti’s charges taking the three points in their La Liga meeting back in the capital.
With Barcelona’s lead at the top of the table at a whopping nine points, this is likely Real Madrid’s last stand to defend their title.
Barcelona team news
Xavi has been dealt a rather sizeable blow on the eve of El Clasico, with star midfielder Pedri ruled out with a hamstring problem.
Ousmane Dembele too has been sidelined and won’t return until after the March internationals, but Barça have a clean bill of health otherwise.
Ronald Araujo is available for selection again after serving a one-match suspension.
Barcelona predicted lineup (4-3-3):
Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; Busquets, Gavi, De Jong; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Torres
Real Madrid team news
The only injury headache that Ancelotti has to worry about concerns David Alaba, who is set to miss out on the trip to Camp Nou with a hamstring problem.
Real Madrid predicted lineup (4-3-3):
Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Nacho; Tchouameni, Modric, Kroos; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius
